Aaron Pressley

Aaron Alex Pressley (born 7 November 2001) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a forward for EFL League One club Stevenage.

Aaron Pressley
Personal information
Full name Aaron Alex Pressley[1]
Date of birth (2001-11-07) 7 November 2001
Place of birth Edinburgh, Scotland
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)[2]
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Stevenage
Number 20
Youth career
0000–2013 Heart of Midlothian
2013–2020 Aston Villa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020–2023 Brentford 2 (0)
2021–2022 → AFC Wimbledon (loan) 21 (2)
2023 → Accrington Stanley (loan) 22 (6)
2023– Stevenage 9 (2)
International career
Scotland U16
2017–2018 Scotland U17 7 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:27, 14 October 2023 (UTC)

Pressley is a product of the Aston Villa and Heart of Midlothian academies and he began his professional career with Brentford in 2020. After failing to break into the first team squad, he transferred to Stevenage in 2023. Pressley was capped by Scotland at U16 and U17 level.

Club career

2020–2021

After beginning his career in the Heart of Midlothian and Aston Villa academies, Pressley transferred to the B team at Championship club Brentford on 29 January 2020.[3] During what remained of the COVID-19-affected 2019–20 season, he scored three goals in six appearances.[4] As a result of the EFL permitting 9 substitutes to be named in matchday squads partway through the 2020–21 season,[5] Pressley was promoted onto the first team substitutes' bench and was named in 15 matchday squads between November 2020 and February 2021.[6] He made three substitute appearances during the period,[7] but was not involved in Brentford's promotion-winning playoff campaign at the end of the season.[6] Pressley top-scored with 19 goals in 26 B team appearances during the 2020–21 season and was voted the team's Players' Player of the Year.[8][9] In May 2021, he signed a new two-year contract, with a one-year option.[10]

2021–22 and AFC Wimbledon loan

In July 2021, Pressley joined League One club AFC Wimbledon on loan for the duration of the 2021–22 season.[11] Prior to being sidelined for 9 weeks with a hamstring injury suffered in a mid-December 2021 training match,[12] he had made 25 appearances and scored four goals.[13] As part of his return to fitness,[14] Pressley was named in Brentford B's 2022 Atlantic Cup squad and made one appearance at the tournament.[15] Following his return to the AFC Wimbledon squad in late February 2022, Pressley made two substitute appearances before suffering a reoccurrence of the injury,[6] which ended his season and he returned to Brentford for surgery and rehabilitation.[15] In his absence, the Dons were relegated to League Two.[16]

2022–2023 and Accrington Stanley loan

Pressley returned to match play with the B team in mid-November 2022 and on 4 January 2023,[15] he joined League One club Accrington Stanley on loan until the end of the 2022–23 season.[17] On his second appearance, Pressley's two goals and performance in a EFL Trophy quarter-final penalty shoot-out win over Lincoln City saw him win the competition's Player of the Round award.[18] He ended his spell with 27 appearances and eight goals,[19] but was unable to prevent the club's relegation to League Two.[20]

The one-year option on Pressley's Brentford contract was exercised at the end of the 2022–23 season.[21] During the 2023–24 pre-season, he was included in the first team's 2023 Premier League Summer Series squad and made a substitute appearance in the opening match versus Fulham.[22][23] On 2 August 2023, Pressley departed the club.[7]

Stevenage

On 2 August 2023, Pressley transferred to League One club Stevenage and signed a two-year contract, with a one-year option, for a compensation fee.[24]

International career

Pressley was capped by Scotland at U16 and U17 level.[25][26][27] In November 2021, he won his maiden U21 call up for a pair of 2023 European U21 Championship qualifiers and remained an unused substitute in both matches.[28]

Personal life

Pressley is the son of footballer and manager Steven Pressley and the older Pressley worked with his son in the role of Head of Individual Development at Brentford.[12] Pressley walked out with his father as a mascot at the 2006 Scottish Cup Final.[29] He attended Cramond Primary School and Princethorpe College.[30][31] As of February 2021, Pressley was living in Richmond.[29] When Pressley's former Aston Villa academy teammate Charlie Farr transferred to Brentford early in the 2022–23 season,[32] he roomed with Pressley.[33]

Career statistics
As of match played 14 October 2023
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] League cup[lower-alpha 2] Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoals Apps Goals Apps GoalsAppsGoals
Aston Villa U21 2019–20[34] — 0 0 00
Brentford 2020–21[35] Championship 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
AFC Wimbledon (loan) 2021–22[13] League One 21 2 2 0 3 0 1[lower-alpha 3] 2 27 4
Accrington Stanley (loan) 2022–23[19] League One 22 6 3 0 — 2[lower-alpha 3] 2 27 8
Stevenage 2023–24[36] League One 9 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 10 2
Career total 54960 5 0 2 46714
  1. Includes FA Cup
  2. Includes EFL Cup
  3. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy

Honours

References
  1. "2019/20 Premier League squads confirmed". www.premierleague.com. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  2. "Aaron Pressley". www.brentfordfc.com. Archived from the original on 31 July 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  3. "Aaron Pressley signs for Brentford B". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  4. "Brentford B in Focus: Aaron Pressley". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  5. "EFL clubs permitted to use five subs". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  6. Aaron Pressley at Soccerway. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  7. "Aaron Pressley joins Stevenage". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  8. "Aaron Pressley wins Brentford B Player of the Year for 2020/21 season". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  9. "Aaron Pressley on injury return". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  10. "Aaron Pressley signs new Brentford B contract". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  11. "Aaron Pressley joins AFC Wimbledon on loan". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  12. Brace, Jack (19 April 2022). "Exclusive: Aaron Pressley discusses Wimbledon loan, injury, learning from Ivan Toney and the challenges of League One". Vavel. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  13. "Games played by Aaron Pressley in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  14. ""I want to show the things that I have been able to do in the B Team"". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  15. "Aaron Pressley – The Journey". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  16. AFC Wimbledon at the Football Club History Database
  17. "Pressley makes Accrington loan switch". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  18. "Accrington Stanley's Aaron Pressley awarded Papa Johns Trophy Player of the Round". www.efl.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  19. "Games played by Aaron Pressley in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  20. Accrington Stanley F.C. at the Football Club History Database
  21. "Brentford B squad update". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  22. "Squads for Premier League Summer Series announced". www.premierleague.com. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  23. "Fulham v Brentford, 2023/24 | Summer Series". www.premierleague.com. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  24. "Stevenage secure Aaron Pressley". www.stevenagefc.com. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  25. Aaron Pressley at the Scottish Football Association
  26. "'Wonderkid' Karamoko Dembele's Scotland Under-16 debut on hold". www.scotsman.com. 31 October 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  27. "Scotland finish second in the Victory Shield". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  28. "World Cup journey continues for number of Bees". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  29. Croser, Graeme (21 February 2021). "A Chip Off The Old Block" (PDF). Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  30. "Cramond Primary's fine month is recognised". www.scotsman.com. 13 November 2012. Archived from the original on 29 January 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  31. "Letter From The Headmaster". flagpole.princethorpe.co.uk. 22 December 2017. Archived from the original on 30 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  32. "Charlie Farr joins Brentford B". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  33. @brentfordbteam (2 September 2022). "@charlfarr ready to work 👊 #BrentfordB #BrentfordFC" – via Instagram.
  34. "Games played by Aaron Pressley in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  35. "Games played by Aaron Pressley in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  36. "Games played by Aaron Pressley in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
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